FILE – In this March 7, 2013, file photo Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. speaks with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington after a GOP policy meeting. McCain was one of a small group of Republican senators who dined with President Barack Obama the previous night to address political gridlock. McCain is one of a bipartisan group of eight senators, nicknamed the “Gang of Eight”, who meet in private several times a week to to come to terms with the overhaul of the nation’s byzantine immigration laws. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The eight senators meet in private several times a week, alternating between Sen. John McCain’s and Sen. Charles Schumer’s offices. They sit in arm chairs arranged in a circle and sip water or soft drinks as they debate temporary workers and border security. In a capital riven by partisanship and gridlock, they are determined to be the exception and actually get something done.

This is immigration reform’s “Gang of Eight.” With them lies the best hope in years for overhauling the nation’s byzantine immigration laws — and they know it. That’s partly why they are, by all accounts, working amazingly well together as a self-imposed deadline approaches for their sweeping legislation to be released. The progress is happening even though the group includes some of the Senate’s most outsized personalities, failed and prospective presidential candidates, one lawmaker dogged by scandal and another facing a potential re-election challenge that could be complicated by his stance on immigration.

“I tell you what, this is one of the best experiences I’ve had. Everybody’s serious, everybody’s knowledgeable, Login to read more